There’s a slight disagreement as to when the first gins were produced. Some say it was as long ago as the 6th century and made by monks and alchemists for medicinal purposes. But certainly by the 16th and 17th century, the Dutch were producing ‘Genever’ (Dutch for ‘juniper’) or Genevre as it was also called. And it was beginning to make its way to our shores as English soldiers saw the Dutch drinking it to give them courage before a battle – and who doesn’t want a dose of Dutch courage.
The Gin craze
William II became king in 1689 although he was actually Dutch. There followed a trade war with France, which involved heavily taxing wine, brandy and Cognac. William also introduced The Corn Laws, which resulted in big tax breaks for grain and as a result, for grain-based spirit distillation.
And then things went a little crazy.
With no regulation of gin production, there was a complete free for all. People went mad for gin, not least because it was cheaper than beer. It is estimated that of the 15,000 (alcoholic) drinking establishments in London, at one point, over half were gin shops. But a major problem was that gin producers could use pretty much anything they wanted in their gin production including turpentine, sulphuric acid and even sawdust.
All sorts of madness and debauchery followed, and reports include tales of mothers murdering children and men being driven crazy. The mood of the day is perhaps best or worst encapsulated in the etching by William Hogarth called Gin Lane (1750/51). It depicts a gin-soaked mother dropping her baby over the side of a staircase, a skeletal man with an empty glass and a long gin shopping list, a man carrying an impaled baby and a woman feeding her baby gin!
Regulation and control
In order to bring an end to the gin-madness, the Gin Acts were introduced (The Gin Act 1736 and The Gin Act 1751). These brought in distillation and retail licensing. The cost of a license was huge and at the time, only two were issued in seven years. The laws also introduced a ban on any still that had a capacity of less than 1,800 litres, to limit the small-scale producers. The gin craze came to an almost immediate halt. Gin prices and quality started to improve.
The evolution of gin
Gin distillation has continued to evolve since. The invention of the Column Still led to the creation of the “London Dry” gin. Meanwhile British troops in the colonies started to try and mask the bitter flavour of quinine used for treating Malaria and the invention of an Indian tonic water (the quinine was dissolved in the carbonated water) led to Gin and Tonic.
The resurgence of the small producer
Despite the passing of several hundred years, some of the laws restricting gin production had never been repealed. That all changed in 2008 when two gin producers successfully challenged the law that banned any still that had a capacity of less than 1,800 litres. As a result, the path was cleared for small batch production and this is one of the reasons we have seen such a massive resurgence of gin producers over the last 15 years.
Sussex gin
Sussex has a great history of smugglers and wreckers (those that salvaged the contents of ships wrecked off the Sussex coast) and although we think of smuggling whisky and brandy, it would have also certainly included Genevre. So Sussex folk would have acquired a taste for gin long ago.
Today, we have dozens if not hundreds of small batch and high quality gin producers that use different methods, a host of local botanicals and ingredients, and a good dose of local folklore in the production of our Sussex gins.
There are a number of reasons that make Sussex a great place to produce gin. The landscape and in particular the South Downs and Weald which produce a wealth of local ingredients and are home to freshwater springs. Our Sussex wine industry has led to entrepreneurial spirit producers making use of the leftover grape material as the base for their spirit instead of grain spirit. And the creativity of Sussex folk, who have learnt how to take a simple spirit and turn it into the kaleidoscope of different flavours and strengths that we enjoy today.
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